Walden files plans for nonprofit treatment center in Framingham

Wednesday

Apr 16, 2014 at 6:00 AMApr 16, 2014 at 3:05 PM

By Danielle AmedenDaily News Staff

FRAMINGHAM - Walden Behavioral Care has filed plans and taken a next step toward opening a nonprofit treatment center for eating and mood disorders on Pleasant Street.The Waltham-based company proposes to redevelop the former Marist Retreat Center into an 80-bed, 115,000-square-foot educational campus, subject to only limited review.As part of an application to the Planning Board for site plan approval, Walden cites Building Commissioner Michael Tusino's ruling – which a group of neighbors is now challenging – that the project qualifies to sidstep local zoning laws under the state's Dover Amendment.The Planning Board is set to open a public hearing on May 1 at 6:30 p.m. on Walden's request for minor site plan review, Administrator Amanda Loomis said Tuesday.A 60-day deadline gives the board until June 12 to make a decision, Loomis said.Under the Dover Amendment, she said, the board's jurisdiction is limited to reviewing building dimensions and parking, to include lighting and landscaping in lots."We are anticipating that the Planning Board process will go according to the regulations and will go smoothly," project attorney Jim Hanrahan said Tuesday.Walden proposes to rehabilitate the existing Marist House and Bishop's hall at 518 Pleasant St. and add four new buildings on the bucolic 28-acre campus.This is Walden's second attempt to gain the town's approval for a treatment center at the former Roman Catholic seminary and spiritual retreat center.Walden retooled its plans and sought Dover Amendment protection through a nonprofit arm after the Zoning Board of Appeals last fall turned down its original for-profit plan.The biggest difference with the new plan for Walden Center for Education and Research Inc. is the loss of property tax revenue and traffic mitigation for the town, Hanrahan said.Walden and property owner The Marist Fathers of Boston, meanwhile, are fighting the ZBA's decision in land court. Walden needed three votes of approval for a special permit to carry out its plans in a residential zone, but only received two.Hanrahan said the appeal and the Planning Board process will run on parallel tracks.For the nonprofit project, Walden won't pay for off-site improvements discussed by the ZBA as conditions for approval, such as construction of a dedicated right-turn lane onto Temple Street - nor will it offer the town payments in lieu of taxes, he said."Given the cost of redesigning this project, the cost of the lawsuit with the ZBA as well as what appears to now be another challenge of the building official's determination, Walden would not be inclined to participate in a PILOT program," Hanrahan said.Both sets of plans call for an 80-bed facility. Of them, 24 beds for adults and adolescents with eating disorders and 24 beds for patients with depression or bipolar disorder are proposed in the Marist House, renovated to be a modern medical facility.There would also be 16 beds in a new one-story building for treating adult obesity, and 16 beds in a new two-story building for an adolescent eating disorder program.Bishop's Hall would house administrative offices, while two other buildings are proposed for education and research and patient aftercare.The original project divided the neighborhood during the Zoning Board hearings last year, with more than 500 residents uniting in opposition and others supporting Walden.Attorney Robert Cohen earlier this month appealed Tusino's Dover Amendment ruling on behalf of seven neighbors of the property. He is challenging several points, including whether Walden is a qualified, bona fide educational institute, and whether the use would be primarily or predominantly educational.The ZBA will decide whether to uphold or overturn Tusino's ruling.Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dameden@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @damedenMW.

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